Intro

Welcome to our Big News section for all the latest news concerning Military Disability.

We'll do our best to keep you up to date on everything that could affect your disability. Since the majority of our news will cover legal issues that can be dragged out for a long time, if you'd like an update on an issue, let us know, and we'll do what we can.

Please feel free to comment and submit questions. We want to give you the information you need, so help us by letting us know what you want to know.

Monday, April 11, 2016

The VA has joined forces with PGA REACH, the charitable arm
of the Professional Golfers Association, to provide a program called PGA HOPE
(Helping Our Patriots Everywhere) to all military veterans.

PGA HOPE uses golf as a therapeutic rehabilitation activity
by partnering PGA professionals with physical therapists at local VA hospitals
and military bases to introduce veterans to the game, provide instruction, and
offer opportunities for the veterans to play. Veterans do not, however, have to
be disabled or undergoing treatment in order to participate in the program. It
is open to all veterans and their families.

The HOPE program is divided into two parts. The first is the
Down Range Clinic, which pairs vets with PGA pros who provide instruction on
the game and use of equipment, including adaptive equipment if necessary. The
Down Range Clinic is then followed by weekly HOPE sessions for 5-8 weeks.

Participation in the program is totally free for all
veterans and their families and is available all year long.

Nearly 1 in 10 veterans are disabled, and PTSD and suicide are
major concern among all veterans. Because of this, it is important that
veterans receive treatment not just for their physical injuries, but for their
mental health as well. The HOPE program uses golf not only for rehabilitation
but also to help veterans transition back into their families and societies
through social interaction, activity, and competitions.

There are currently 50 HOPE programs in 20 states, serving
more than 2000 veterans. The goal is to have programs in every state by the end
of 2016. For more information on PGA HOPE, please visit www.pgareach.com/military/.

Wednesday, April 6, 2016

The VA announced this month that it has received additional
funding from Congress for fiscal year 2016 that will make it possible to
provide care for all veterans who have Hepatitis C, regardless of the stage of
the disease.

Chronic Hepatitis C is the most common blood-borne infection in
the world, yet 75% of those infected don’t know it. Serious complications like
liver damage leading to cirrhosis, primary liver cancer, liver failure, or even
death can occur when Hepatitis C is left untreated.

Several new antiviral medications designed to treat Chronic
Hepatitis C received FDA approval in the past 2 years, and others are still in
clinical trials. These new medications are used in combination to treat
patients with ongoing or Chronic Hepatitis C by stopping the virus from
reproducing and spreading in the body. Different combinations may be used
depending on whether you have Hepatitis C genotype 1, 2, or 3. The length of
treatment can last from 12 weeks, for Types 1 or 2, to 24 weeks, for Type 3.

If you still show signs of the virus after your initial course
of treatment, a different combination may need to be used. As with all diseases
and treatments, these medications are more likely to be effective if you have a
low level of the virus in your blood stream and minimal liver damage when
treatment starts, however these new antivirals seem to work both with patients
who have never before been treated for their Hepatitis C as well as those whose
first course of treatment didn’t result in a cure.

There are more than 170,000 veterans in the VA Healthcare
system that have been diagnosed with Hepatitis C. To date, the VA has treated
more than 76,000 of them, resulting in over 60,000 cures. Since the beginning
of 2014, however, only 42,000 veterans have been treated with the new, more
effective antivirals due to budgetary restraints.

Last year, the VA budgeted $696,000 for the new Hepatitis C
drugs—over 17% of its total budget for medications—and anticipates that it will
need over $1,000,000 for those medications in 2016 in order to treat all veterans
who have been diagnosed. With the increased funding recently granted by
Congress, the VA now has the funds it needs to treat all veterans with
Hepatitis C, and the VA expects to see an increasing number of veterans
starting treatment each week.

With this expansion, veterans who are currently waiting for
an appointment with a civilian provider through the Choice Program can contact
their local VA facility to receive treatment for their Hepatitis C, or they can
choose to continue to be treated by a civilian provider. Visit the VA’s
Hepatitis C page for more information, http://www.hepatitis.va.gov/patient/hcv/index.asp.

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About Me

As a retired Air Force Colonel and physician, I am a Military Disability and VA Disability specialist. As a physician, I have specialties in preventive medicine, occupational medicine, and healthcare administration. While on active duty, I had direct responsibility over preventive medicine for all military members in deployed environments and contingency operations. Since retiring, I have worked as a contractor for the Physical Disability Board of Review (PDBR), reviewing military disability cases, and for the VA, performing C&P exams.